Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Reaches New 12-Month High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Williams Companies shares hit a new 52-week high of $77.52, rising about 2.6% as investors pushed the stock above its prior close of $75.71.
• Analysts remain largely bullish, with several firms recently raising price targets; the stock carries a consensus Buy rating and an average target price of $80.47.
• The company beat first-quarter EPS estimates at $0.73 versus $0.63 expected and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equal to a 2.7% annual yield.

Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $77.52 and last traded at $77.4910, with a volume of 3270109 shares. The stock had previously closed at $75.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.47.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.6%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $66.51. The firm has a market cap of $94.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.11%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 103,369 shares of company stock valued at $7,700,932 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,540,556 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $287,644,000 after purchasing an additional 134,777 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $11,664,000 after buying an additional 16,027 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 75.9% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,290 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,937,000 after acquiring an additional 54,057 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,627,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp grew its stake in Williams Companies by 3,344.8% in the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 17,465 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 16,958 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

About Williams Companies

Williams Companies, Inc NYSE: WMB is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.

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